Budget-hostels, the lesser of two evils?

The opening of a homeless shelter in the Upper West Side: an unintended consequence of the New York City’s short-term rental ban?Gottfried and Kruger, sponsors of the illegal hotel bill, blamed.

A SRO building (formerly the Alexander Hotel) located in the Upper West Side is to be rented to the non-profit organization Samaritan Village and turned into a 200-bed homeless shelter for single men.

The owner explained that the layout of his building limits its use and that absent the revenue stream brought in by tourists, the rents generated by long-term residents were not sufficient to cover costs [1]. “I just need a tenant who can lease the building from me so I can pay my bills,” he said during an interview given to DNAinfo [2].

Last Sunday, Congressman Charles Rangel, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer and local residents rallied against the plan to convert the Hotel Alexander into a transitional housing facility.

What other unintended as well as unexpected consequences do you think the New York short- term rental ban will have come May 2011?